Norman Provan, nicknamed "Sticks",was a second-row forward with the St. George Dragons during the first ten of their eleven consecutive premiership-winning years (1956-1966). Named among the nation's finest footballers of the 20th century, he was a representative in the Australia national team from 1954 to 1960, winning 14 Tests and two World Cups.

Provan's first junior football was played for Willoughby Roos in the North Sydney District and attending high school at Crows Nest. After his family relocated to the St George-Sutherland region, he played with the Sutherland Woronora Juniors and the Sutherland Gravediggers. He was graded by St George in 1950 after being turned down by Easts the prior year. Having won the premiership in 1949, St George slipped to a fifth-place finish in 1950 but things were falling into place that year with the move to Jubilee Oval and Provan's arrival.

Provan featured in their 1951 campaign with a loss in the final against Manly for 3rd place; a 2nd place in the minor premiership in 1952 and a semi-final exit to North Sydney; and then the 1953 Dragons side that lost the 1953 final to South Sydney. St George and Souths would battle head-to-head on many more occasions in Provan's illustrious career. Provan's strength at second row in attack and in defence, in partnership with Harry Melville, Harry Bath and Monty Porter laid the foundations in those first years of their glory run. After the retirement of Ken Kearney in 1962 from the playing arena, Provan took over as captain-coach and the club's dominant run continued.

A fitness fanatic, Provan continued Kearney's punishing and successful training routine giving Dragon sides of the period confidence that they could edge out their fatiguing opposition in the final twenty minutes of each encounter. Norm set high standards for himself and his players, directing a training mix that included sandhill running at Cronulla; lap running at Kogarah and touch-football. He was content to maintain a certain distance from the team and saw the captain-coach role as a tough, solitary role requiring him to stand slightly apart from his players.

Provan holds the club record of 284 games for St George achieved between 1951 and 1965. He played in the first ten of their record run of 11 premiership victories - as captain-coach for four - and made 30 finals appearances for the club over fifteen consecutive seasons. His last game before retirement was a victory in the 1965 Grand Final where the Dragons beat the Sourh Sydney Rabbitohs 12–8 in front of 78,065, which stands as the Sydney Cricket Ground's all-time attendance record. Provan played in finals football for fifteen consecutive seasons from 1951 to 1965, his appearance in ten Grand Finals is an Australian rugby league record.

In 1954 Provan first represented for New South Wales and that same year made his Test debut, playing in all three matches of the 1954 series against the visiting Great Britain side. Provan was selected for the 1956 Kangaroo tour. Due to injury he missed the Ashes series against Great Britain but appeared in three Tests against France at the end of the tour. He appeared in 15 other minor matches on the tour. In 1957 he was a member of Australia's victorious World Cup squad. He continued his Test pairing with Kel O'Shea in all three games of the domestic 1958 series against Great Britain and in 1959 featured in all three Tests against the visiting Kiwis. Also in 1959 Provan played in the New South Wales loss to Queensland. Norm Provan is listed on the Australian Players Register as Kangaroo No. 310.

After retiring from playing he went on to coach. He was a non-playing coach for St George for a season in 1968 and with Parramatta for a single season in 1975. He had two seasons coaching Cronulla-Sutherland in 1978 and 1979 taking them to a grand final in 1978 which they lost to Manly.

The Gladiators - Provan is the subject of one of the most memorable sporting photographic images ever captured in Australia. The 1963 NSW Rugby League Premiership grand final between long term rivals Western Suburbs and St George was played in a torrential downpour on Saturday, 24 August. This, combined with the fact that the centre cricket pitch area of Sydney Cricket Ground was notoriously muddy in such conditions, ensured that the players were not only saturated, but also caked in mud from head to toe. At the conclusion of the hard-fought match, (which was won by St George), the captains of the two teams, the very tall Norm Provan and more diminutive Arthur Summons, embraced in appreciation of each other's stoic efforts. The moment was captured by a photographer, John O'Gready. This image was the inspiration for the current NRL premiership trophy's bronze statue.

In 2004 Provan was admitted into the Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame. In February 2008, Provan was named in the list of Australia's 100 Greatest Players (1908–2007) to celebrate the code's centenary year in Australia. Provan went on to be named in the second-row in Australian rugby league's Team of the Century. In 2018 Provan was inducted as a Rugby League Immortal along with Mal Meninga and pre-WWII greats Dave Brown, Frank Burge and Dally Messenger. In July 2022, Provan was named in the St. George Dragons District Rugby League Clubs team of the century.